Can a Kentucky fiscal court refuse to pay the CPI raise for elected county officials?

Plain-English summary

A Fulton County magistrate asked whether the fiscal court, when adopting its budget, could simply choose not to pay the Consumer Price Index salary increase to the county's elected officials (the county judge/executive, county clerk, full-service-jail jailer, and sheriff). The CPI increase is part of how Kentucky sets those officials' pay each year.

The Attorney General concluded the fiscal court may not skip it, because the increase is mandatory. KRS 64.5275 directs the Department for Local Government, not the fiscal court, to "fix" the salaries of these elected county officials each year, adjusting them for the published change in the Consumer Price Index, with the determination retroactive to the preceding January 1. Under the statute, the officials are "entitled" to the amount the Department fixes. A separate statute, KRS 67.080(2)(a), says the fiscal court "shall" appropriate county funds for purposes required by law, and KRS 446.010(39) provides that "shall" in a statute is mandatory. Putting these together, the opinion held that because the CPI increase is required by KRS 64.5275, the fiscal court must appropriate the money to pay it. The opinion also noted (in a footnote) that the state local finance officer may enforce county budget laws.

Currency note

This opinion was issued in 2020. Subsequent statutory amendments, court decisions, or later AG opinions may have changed the analysis. Treat this page as historical context, not current legal advice. Verify current law before relying on any specific rule, deadline, or remedy mentioned here.

Background and statutory framework

KRS 64.5275(2) directs the Department for Local Government to fix the maximum salary of county judges/executive, county clerks, full-service-jail jailers, and sheriffs according to a salary schedule consistent with Ky. Const. § 246, with the base figure adjusted for changes in the Consumer Price Index. KRS 64.5275(4) requires the Department, on publication of the annual CPI, to fix each official's salary at the rate to which the official is "entitled," retroactive to the preceding January 1. KRS 67.080(2)(a) requires the fiscal court to appropriate county funds for purposes required by law, and KRS 446.010(39) makes "shall" mandatory. The opinion concluded that, because the CPI adjustment is required by KRS 64.5275(4) and fixed by the Department (not the fiscal court), the fiscal court must appropriate funds to pay it, and noted that the state local finance officer may enforce county budget laws under KRS 68.350.

Citations and references

Constitution and statutes:

• Ky. Const. § 246; KRS 64.5275 (incl. (2), (4))
• KRS 67.080(2)(a); KRS 446.010(39); KRS 68.350

Source

• Landing page: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Opinions/Pages/default.aspx
• Original PDF: https://www.ag.ky.gov/Resources/Opinions/Opinions/OAG%2020-11.pdf

Original opinion text

The full opinion as issued by the Office of the Kentucky Attorney General:

Commonwealth of Kentucky
Office of the Attorney General
Daniel Cameron, Attorney General
Capitol Building, Suite 118, 700 Capital Avenue, Frankfort, Kentucky 40601
June 25, 2020
OAG 20-11
Subject: Whether the Fulton County Fiscal Court may decline to pay the Consumer Price Index salary increase for its elected county officials under KRS 64.5275.
Requested by: Jim Paitsel, Magistrate, Fulton County Fiscal Court
Written by: Charles A. English, Assistant Attorney General, Office of Civil & Environmental Law
Syllabus: Because the Consumer Price Index salary increase for elected county officials under KRS 64.5275 is mandatory, the Fiscal Court must pay it.

Opinion of the Attorney General

The Fulton County Fiscal Court requests this Office's opinion on whether in enacting its budget for the next fiscal year it may decline to pay its elected county officials the Consumer Price Index ("CPI") salary increase under KRS 64.5275. For the reasons that follow, this Office finds that the Fulton County Fiscal Court may not withhold paying the CPI salary increase for its elected county officials because the salary increase is mandatory under the statute.

KRS 64.5275 provides:

(2) Effective on the first Monday in January of 1999, the maximum salary of county judges/executive, county clerks, jailers who operate a full service jail, and sheriffs shall be fixed by the Department for Local Government according to a salary schedule in accordance with Section 246 of the Kentucky Constitution. The salary schedule provides that these officials, as officers whose jurisdiction or duties are coextensive with the Commonwealth, shall be paid at a rate no greater than twelve thousand dollars ($12,000) per annum as adjusted for any increase or decrease in the consumer price index and as described in subsection (4) of this section.

[. . .]

(4) Upon publication of the annual consumer price index by the United States Department of Commerce, the Department for Local Government shall fix the salary of the county judge/executive, county clerk, jailer who operates a full service jail, and sheriff at an annual rate of salary to which the county official is entitled pursuant to the increase in the Consumer Price Index and the salary schedule contained in this section. This salary determination shall be retroactive to the preceding January 1.

Further, KRS 67.080(2)(a) provides that "[t]he fiscal court shall . . . appropriate county funds . . . for purposes required by law."

Importantly, KRS 64.5275(4) requires the Department for Local Government, not the fiscal court, to "fix" the salaries of the elected county officials. Under the statute, the county officials are "entitled" to be paid the amount fixed by the Department of Local Government. Because the CPI increase in the county officials' salaries is required by KRS 64.5275(4), under KRS 67.080(2)(a), the fiscal court "shall" appropriate funds for that purpose.[1] See KRS 446.010(39) (stating that "shall," as used in statutes, is mandatory). The CPI salary adjustment, therefore, is mandatory and not optional.

For these reasons, it is this Office's opinion that the Fulton County Fiscal Court may not decline to pay the CPI salary increase required by KRS 64.5275 to its elected county officials.

Daniel Cameron
ATTORNEY GENERAL
Charles A. English
Assistant Attorney General

[1] Pursuant to KRS 68.350, the state local finance officer may enforce county budgetary laws. The state local finance officer is the commissioner of the Department of Local Government or his designee. KRS 68.001.